Review: The Host

February went by quickly and I am ashamed to say that the only things I read during this month were the report card comments I was finishing up for my students and a few magazines.  However, toward the end of the month, I took my son and daughter to see the new OZ movie and there was a preview for The Host.  I figured I would pick it up... everyone makes mistakes.

What was it about?
Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.

What I liked about it:
Hmmmm.... I have to say that the plot was interesting.  It reminded me of the old movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  Basically, these worm-like creatures use humans as hosts and they are taking over the Earth.  There are some humans who are fighting back and they stay in hiding and try to find a way to get the "worms" out so that humanity can have a chance to survive.   Cool premise.  You can understand where both sides are coming from but of course I was routing for humanity.  I thought the characters were easy to connect to and felt myself getting stuck in their emotions as I usually do.  I wanted Melanie and Jared to be together and I loved how Stephanie Meyer starts you off hating the alien inside of Melanie but then slowly changes that feeling so that by the middle of the book, you are hoping that they both can survive and by the end you just can't choose who lives and who dies.  I won't give away the ending...

What it lacked:
I had a hard time getting into this book.  I read the first two chapters and then I put it down for a couple of days.  I just couldn't get into the point of view of the alien inside of Melanie.  I hadn't been expecting that so it bothered me through almost the entire story.  Also, I am a Twilight fan and so I had certain expectations for this book.  It just didn't have that page turner quality that causes my husband to roll his eyes when he tries to talk to me and I ignore him completely.  I'm not saying it wasn't good but it definitely isn't going on my top ten list for this year.